User:Eddie943586/Basketball in China

The basketball in China erupted with the senior men's Chinese Basketball Association and Win the 16 titles of the FIBA Asia Cup, Which causes the basketball become the famous sports in the country. Moreover, there has 6 Chinese basketball player has played in National Basketball Association , The most famous Chinese basketball player is Yao Ming , He become the first player scored average 20+10 in his freshmen season. Now he became the Hall of Fame of the American Basketball League and became the Chief Executive of The Chinese Basketball Association. Basketball in China is the most popular sport in the country.

In October 2019, tensions grew between China's basketball market and the National Basketball Association. Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, made a pro-Hong Kong re-tweet on Twitter referencing the Hong Kong-Mainland China conflict. Several Chinese sports broadcasters, including state-run China Central Television, announced the cancellation of N.B.A. broadcasts involving the Rockets. Followup comments from league commissioner Adam Silver resulted in further tensions between the N.B.A. and China.

History
The Youth Men's Christian Association (YMCA) brought basketball to China when they established the first YMCA in Tiajin in 1895, four years after the first game of basketball was played at Spring Field College (a YMCA Training School at the time) in Massachusetts, United States of America. The sport spread quickly due to it not requiring many resources to play. The growth of basketball throughout China spread fast enough that it was an event in the 1910 and 1914 National Games, only 15 years after the first YMCA in China. This can also be due to the YMCA’s heavy involvement in the preparation of the events due to the failings of the Late Qing Dynasty. During this time, China started competing internationally in basketball. This started with the First Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. This event, where they competed in basketball, was held in Manila, Philippine between three nations: China, Japan, and the Philippines. By 1935, basketball was voted upon by the citizens of China to be one of the two national sports alongside ping pong. After the formation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, China looked to sports, including basketball, as a way to create diplomatic relations. It started within the Socialist Bloc where China sent teams to compete against other socialist nations such as Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. It eventually spread to other countries such as Switzerland and France in 1959. Teams were eventually travelling around the world including the United States post ping pong diplomacy in the 1970s. China captured their first Olympic medal in 1984 in Los Angeles when the women's team brought home a bronze medal defeating Canada. The sport has reached its maximum popularity with the emergence of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) popularity in large part due to Yao Ming becoming a hall of fame player in the United States

The 2000S
Zhizhi Wang

Wang Zhizhi (Chinese: 王治郅; pinyin: Wáng Zhìzhì, pronounced [uǎŋ ʈʂɻ̩̂ʈʂɻ̩̂]; born 8 July 1977) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who is currently the head coach of the Bayi Rockets, the team with which he spent his domestic career in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He also played in the National Basketball Association for the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Miami Heat, becoming China's first player to compete in the NBA.

Mengke Bateer (simplified Chinese: 孟克巴特尔; traditional Chinese: 孟克巴特爾; pinyin: Mèngkè Bātè'ěr, pronounced [mə̂ŋkʰɤ̂ pátʰɤ̂àɚ]; born November 20, 1975), commonly referred to simply as Bateer in China, is a retired Chinese Inner Mongolian professional basketball player. A tall and imposing presence at the center position, he played parts of three seasons in the NBA, winning the NBA Finals during one of them, but spent the majority of his career competing in the Chinese Basketball Association for the Beijing Ducks and later with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers before ending his career with the Sichuan Blue Whales in the lesser National Basketball League and winning the CBA Finals with Beijing. Mengke scored a total of 8 points with the Toronto Raptors on his last season in the NBA.

Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and retired professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in). He is the only player from outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star votes.

Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks.

Yao is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds. Known in China as the "Yao Ming Phenomenon" and in the United States as the "Ming Dynasty," Yao's success in the NBA, and his popularity among fans, made him a symbol of a new China that was both more modern and more confident.

In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. In February 2017, Yao was unanimously elected as chairman of Chinese Basketball Association.



International Competition
China has traditionally been the basketball powerhouse in Asia and won the FIBA Asia Championship 14 out of 16 times between 1975 and 2005. Team China in 2008 Olympics.

However, the national team failed to defend its championship at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship. This was due to the automatic berth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the host nation, thus, China sent its "U23"Team to the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship and finished 10th while its primary "A" team participated at the 2007 Stanković Cup which took place around the same time as the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship.

The national team has historically struggled against other top flight non-Asian teams. However, in recent years, China has shown they can beat the top European teams. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, China, coached by Del Harris, advanced to the final eight after a 67–66 win over defending world champion Serbia and Montenegro.

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship, China, coached by Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas also advanced to the second round from Group D, earning two victories against Senegal and Slovenia in five group play matches before falling in the round of sixteen to the eventual silver medalists Greece, 95–64; the team's overall placing by the end of the tournament from amongst the twenty-four competing sides was fifteenth.

In 2008, some questions surrounded whether the recently injured Yao Ming would still captain the squad. In mid-July, it was confirmed that he would still continue to be the captain.

See also: China at the 2008 Summer Olympics

In recent years, the national team has faced major struggles with injuries. In 2008, a then NBA prospect Xu Yong was forced to end his career at the age of 19 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma. In December 2010, Yao was diagnosed with a stress fracture on his left ankle – the injury is related to the ankle sprain that he suffered earlier that year. Speculations arose whether China's basketball icon would ever be able to play again.

When Yao's retirement was finally announced in July 2011 it was considered a big blow to the national team, whose success had largely depended on him for many years. Yet, critics have been optimistic that China will continue to improve on its international performances. In 2016, a new era of Chinese stars would begin to form, as NBA draftees in Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin would gain considerable amounts of attention for their successes in China.

In 2018, the team was invited to play at the 2018 NBA Summer League. They played a total of 5 games and won 1.

China is set to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup which automatically qualifies the team.

Arenas
The Wukesong Arena (simplified Chinese: 五棵松体育馆; traditional Chinese: 五棵松體育館; pinyin: Wǔkēsōng Tǐyùguǎn), also known as the Cadillac Center (simplified Chinese: 凯迪拉克中心; traditional Chinese: 凱迪拉克中心; pinyin: Kǎidílākè Zhōngxīn) for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008.

The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It includes a modern, flexible ice hockey rink designed and produced by Finnish rink manufacturer Vepe Oy in November 2016.

The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It includes a modern, flexible ice hockey rink designed and produced by Finnish rink manufacturer Vepe Oy in November 2016.

The Mercedes-Benz Arena (simplified Chinese: 梅赛德斯-奔驰文化中心; traditional Chinese: 梅賽德斯-奔馳文化中心; pinyin: Méisàidésī-Bēnchí Wénhuà Zhōngxīn; Shanghainese : Meisedesy-bentzy Venho Tsonshin), formerly known as the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Center, is an indoor arena located on the former grounds of Expo 2010 in Pudong, Shanghai. It is owned and operated by the AEG-OPG joint venture. The facility seats 18,000 people and includes a smaller venue, The Mixing Room & Muse, which is a more intimate live-music venue.

The arena hosted the opening ceremony for the Expo 2010, during which it was known as the Expo Cultural Center.

National League
Chinese Basketball Association is the national professional basketball league in China. . The Chinese Basketball Association (simplified Chinese: 中国男子篮球职业联赛; traditional Chinese: 中國男子籃球職業聯賽; pinyin: Zhōngguó Nánzǐ Lánqiú Zhíyè Liánsài), often abbreviated as CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. It is widely regarded as the preeminent professional men's basketball league in Asia.

The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis. The CBA should not be confused with the National Basketball League (NBL), which is a professional minor league. There is also a Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA).

A few Chinese players who competed in the CBA in the early stages of their careers — including Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, and Zhou Qi — have also played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Others such as Xue Yuyang and Wang Zhelin were chosen in the draft, but have not played in the NBA. The Chinese basketball League is becoming the largest league in ASIA, it brings lots of NBA famous player to play , such as Lance Stevenson , Steve Mabry to Play in that League.

National Team
The China men's national basketball team has won FIBA Asia Cup 15 times. China is the dominant force in Asian basketball. The National Team for Chinese basketball has been the leader in ASIA for 20 years, The Chinese national team produced 3 famous star in NBA especially the Hall of Fame Yao Ming ,